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24 October 2011

Autumn means many things to many people. Admittedly, one of my favorite parts of the season is going to the pumpkin patch (I have to confess to not being much of a Halloween person, but the autumn colors and weather, I love!!). I was frantic for a moment a little over a month ago when I wondered: Do they even do pumpkin patches in Florida!? A Google search quickly revealed that this rite of passage is indeed available to residents of the southeast.

In Washington state, the sun may have been shining (if you're lucky), but I would be donning gloves and a warm coat against the crisp, cool weather for a pumpkin patch excursion. Hot cider would most definitely be in order to warm up the hands and insides that got cold in spite of the precautions. And just like the name implies, you would actually go out into the pumpkin patch -- the place in the dirt where pumpkins were actually growing -- cut the stem, weigh your mud-caked pumpkin, and take it home. I'd always end up with the dried mud crumbling off onto my hands, my pants, and my coat.

The experience was quite a bit different here! When we went yesterday, it was nearly 80 degrees. A tank top and pants were all I needed -- no gloves or coat required. And though the area was duly harvest-themed, the pumpkins themselves were imported, bearing stickers like produce in the grocery store. They had been cleaned off and were scenically arranged around the towering oaks on the property where we went. So it wasn't quite the same, but still incredibly cute.

And yes, we took pictures!

I love this one of us! We hardly ever get our picture taken together.

We had an idea for some other creative photos, but our idea didn't quite work out in its execution the way we had hoped once we got there. Luckily, we have one more weekend before Halloween, so we're going to give it another shot. If it ends up working out, you can bet I'll be posting it here!

And just think ... a year from now, our little punkin will be around 9 months old. I can hardly wait for those pictures!